From his room in Kaplan Medical Center, political prisoner Samer Issawi sent a letter via the lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner Society saying:

“I am sending my greetings to everyone, without exception, and I request from all honorable people of our country, of our Arabic and Islamic nation, and all free peoples of the world, to make April 17 a day of anger and solidarity with political prisoners incarcerated in all countries of the world.

This must be done in order to amplify the voice of these heroic political prisoners who sacrificed, and are still sacrificing, for the sake of the freedom of their people and their lands, and for the protection of their Islamic and Christian holy sites in the purest place in the world.

Until this very moment, they are still continuing their struggle inside the prisons, in order to improve the conditions of their incarceration, and for the protection of their dignity and the quality of their lives in detention. The jailor continues to violate international conventions and laws that guarantee the freedom of the prisoners. He also attempts to increase harassment against them, in order to make them frustrated and desperate, and to make them feel as if they are alone in their struggle, forgotten by their people, and as if they were not arrested while they were struggling for the freedom of their people. However, thanks to the awareness of the prisoners and their belief in their cause, they challenge all these arbitrary measures, and continue their resistance to obtain their rights and defend their dignity.

April 17, 2013, should not be the only day on which there is solidarity with the political prisoners, but there must be daily solidarity protests, and there must be daily pressure against the occupation to secure the release of all political prisoners. There should be no negotiations unless preceded by the release of all political prisoners, as a top priority regardless of the success or failure of these negotiations.

Despite the fact that as long as there is an occupation, there will be political prisoners, we should not leave them to suffer inside these prisons endlessly, like what happened to the veterans among them who are still inside the prisons after more than 30 years. This is a shame upon humanity, and a disgrace upon every free revolutionary who does not engage in any action for the sake of these heroes.

Samer Issawi after his previous releaseMy message to the prisoners is to remain united and to build up the prisoners’ movement as one body, as it has always been, and to keep their decisions and goals unified, because their suffering is collective as well. They should work towards ending all separations between the people, and to return to the unified action of all Palestinian factions and to hold on firmly to their achievements. They should initiate a struggle to regain the achievements that were lost, after having been obtained at the cost of the blood and suffering of prisoners and martyrs inside the prisons. The prisons must be restored into the true schools of revolution that they used to be, with leaders graduating from them and returning to our Palestinian society.

As for any act of solidarity with me, I thank you and appreciate this, but don’t want any acts of solidarity to be for me. I am waging this struggle on your behalf and on the behalf of all Palestinians, and any action should be aimed at obtaining results for the entire prisoners movement, and I am one of you.

Your brother and your son, loyal to you and to the blood of the martyrs and that of the wounded,

A journal published by Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights | June 26, 2012

“On Torture” is an edited volume of essays by Palestinian, Israeli and international legal and medical experts and practitioners based on presentations that they gave during a workshop held in Jerusalem in April 2011 entitled, “Securing Accountability for Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment (CIDT) in Israel: New Trends and Comparative Lessons”.

The essayists explore the history of torture in Israel, the daily challenges that practitioners face in seeking accountability for torture and CIDT in Israel, and the changing face of torture.